Pointe-au-Baril

Your Gateway to the Bay

Pointe-au-Baril

July 30, 2016 - Photo courtesy of Chuck McBride

WARNING: "Councillors" vote in Cash Grab at PaB Wharf

June 11, 2015 By Rock Hunter

So, what do you get for your tax dollars? Not even a Government Wharf it turns out. On May 15th 2015 council passed By Law No 15-16 which enacts fees for the use of the Pointe au Baril Wharf...(read more)

WATER LEVELS UPDATE

Lake Michigan-Huron is 21 inches above its level of a year ago. Lake Michigan-Huron is predicted to fall 1 inch over the next month. - Jan 23

Lake Michigan&dash;Huron’s December level declined somewhat to 579.17 ft, from 579.20 ft in November... December was the fourth consecutive month with above average water levels after a 15 year stretch of continuously below average conditions. In addition, the lake’s level was 20 inches above chart datum and 22 inches above its level of a year ago. Over the next six months, Lake Michigan&dash; Huron is predicted to be 14 to 22 inches above last year’s levels, and 7 to 8 inches above LTA through June 2015... - Dec. Summary

Pointe-au-Baril Station - Jan 21, 2015 Image courtesy of Coco Brennan

Rising Lake Michigan water level ‘unprecedented’ - Typically, lake levels peak in July and then lower through the winter. Schropp said last year was the first time lake levels continued to rise past October - Jan 21

Are prescription drugs harming Great Lakes fish? - Researchers are increasingly worried about how chemicals from prescription medication could be impacting aquatic wildlife. - Jan 20

Sudbury letter: Liberals fail to deliver - The 2014 budget included funding for 11 km of Highway 69 (north of)... Nobel and indicated that construction would start this fiscal year (by March 31).- Jan 16

Cyanobacteria blooms need only a foothold in a lake to alter nutrient cycles in their favor - ... a new multi-institution study shows cyanobacteria can speed the process by influencing a lake’s nutrient cycling in its favor. - Jan 16

Asian carp may be creeping closer to Great Lakes - ... the latest findings lead environmentalists to say that the Asian carp threat now looks more imminent than ever before... The groups reiterated their call for a controversial but permanent solution: a hydrologic separation of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes Basin. - Jan 16

NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record - Since 1880, Earth’s average surface temperature has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius), a trend that is largely driven by the increase in carbon dioxide and other human emissions into the planet’s atmosphere. The majority of that warming has occurred in the past three decades. - Jan 16

Battery Recycling Program - Call2Recycle is an international industry-led program, operating in Canada and the United States, to collect and recycle batteries and cell phones. Consumers and mobile phone users can return their old batteries and cell phones to any of the drop-off locations .

Group questions Bruce Power negotiations "It is not going to be public, it is going to be some consultant the government has hired, and consultants the governments hire to do independent reviews always conclude the government did the right thing," said Gibbons. "We need a real public review where the citizens of Ontario can intervene, participate, cross-examine." - Jan 15

The French River Dam Complex - Big Chaudière Dam Replacement - The construction started in the Fall 2014 and will be completed by 2016. - Jan 13

Bruce Nuclear Power Plant approved for extension - The matter will be further considered as part of the relicensing hearings of the Bruce nuclear power plant planned for January and April 2015. - Sept 18

Why Are The Great Lakes On The Rise? - ...the deformation of the Arctic polar vortex - or the polar vortex phenomenon... caused a tremendous amount of cold air to locate right over the Great Lakes. And all of the sudden, we have cold water temperatures. We have unprecedented ice cover, and water levels start rising again. - Oct 20

A 1952 article on Pointe-au-Baril. Read it on flickr. Many thanks to Scott Weir for sharing this find.

Seventy images added to the 2014 photo gallery, but for the best viewing experience, click Here to start a flickr slideshow then hit F11. Comment on Facebook

Does your Fire Extinguisher work?

Did you know? The ABC powder inside your fire extinguishers can compact at the bottom over time leaving it potentially useless when an emergency strikes.

The chemical used in ABC fire extinguishers will separate from the nitrogen used to pressurize it. The chemical then settles to the bottom of the fire extinguisher and becomes cake like. After several years it can become so hard it will no longer flow up the tube and out the fire extinguisher. Loosening the chemical from the bottom of the fire extinguisher is important to keep the fire extinguisher working properly.

Solution: Turn the fire extinguisher upside down and tap on the bottom with a rubber mallet to loosen the chemical. Do this every several months to loosen up the powder and make sure you have the tools you need, in the unlikely event of an emergency fire.

Fire extinguishers should be inspected every year to make sure they are in proper working order. Here is a good article with even more information to consider.

SUCCESS !! I received a confirmation email from Rogers today, "We’re pleased to let you know that your new phone number 705-366-50xx is now active." Persistence pays off.

Another serious issue however is the "physical location (of phone) information has to match up perfectly" because it's "all done electronically". I gave Rogers the name and number of the radio phone guy since no "physical location" information is on my Canada Bell bill.

_____________________________________________________________

FYI: Bell Canada Radio Based Phone Service

You can now port your 705-366-50xx phone number to Rogers.

Last fall I received a letter from Bell Canada saying,

"The technology that is used to provide your telephone service requires equipment that has now been discontinued by the manufacturer, making it increasingly difficult for Bell to service and maintain... ...we recommend you consider an alternative phone service..."

I literally spent hours, at the end of May, going back and forth between Bell Canada and Rogers trying to preserve our island radio-based phone number, going to higher and higher levels. The good news is Rogers now has a "porting agreement" with Bell for our area. Today I was told by Rogers that they had "submitted the porting request and it should be completed next week." Hooray!!

We are using a Rogers Rocket Hub for internet and phone service. The cost will end up being similar but we get internet now too. The Rocket Hub will even ring the old ancient rotary phone. No dialing out of course with it. The Rocket Hub has two phone jacks, but the manual says you can connect up to five phones with a splitter.

Note: You can do a six month temporary suspension at a minimal cost.

- Rock Hunter

There's Magic in Them There Hills! - Photography by Rock Hunter

JANUARY 2014 GREAT LAKES WATER LEVEL
SUMMARY: Lake Michigan&dash;Huron’s
average water level ... fell less than an inch from its mean December level.
This water level decline is less than Lake Michigan&dash;Huron’s typical decline
from December to January. The January mean level was... 15 inches above its
level of last year... The Lake Michigan&dash;Huron basin received less precipitation than normal for
January, but total precipitation over the last 12 months has been 5% above
average. Over the next six months, Lake Michigan&dash;Huron is forecasted to be
8 to 14 inches above last year’s levels...